Menu

Saturday, May 13, 2017

#Colombia's drug trade is worth US$10
billion. That's one-quarter as much as the
country's legal exports.

# Colombia is the second
most biodiverse country in the world, after only Brazil which is 10 times its
size. It is one of only 17 “megadiverse” countries in the world.
(Source: World Resources Institute,
2013)

#Cocaine can be purchased
for about US$5 per gram in Colombia while in the U.S. it sells for at least US$100.

# The country’s name is
pronounced Col-o-mbia, not Col-u-mbia. Many non-Spanish speakers
get this wrong.

#More Colombians die every year from American tobacco
than Americans die from Colombian cocaine

# Local government
periodically imposes a ‘Dry Law’ during major events such as World Cup matches
and elections, prohibiting alcohol consumption in order to stem public
violence.
(Source: Colombia Report, 2014)

# A Colombian woman was raised
by monkeys after being kidnaped and abandoned in
the jungle as a child.

#Jamaica, Colombia and St
Lucia are the only countries where a woman is more likely to be a boss than a
man.

# Despite its reputation
as a drug-peddling dangerous place, in reality, it’s one of the most beautiful
countries in the world with a diverse nation that is helpful, hopeful and
deeply endearing.

# Colombia is the only
country in South America that has coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the
Caribbean Sea.
(Source: Google Maps)

# Colombia is part of
the Ring of Fire, a group of countries in the Pacific Ocean vulnerable to
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
(Source: National Geographic)

# Bolivia was named after Simon
Bolivar, a military leader who led Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and Bolivia to independence.

# Colombia’s ‘second city’ Medellin was once the murder capital of the world
with 17 murders every day in 1991. It has since undergone a renaissance
and is now one of the country’s main cultural hubs.

# Notorious drug lord
Pablo Escobar reportedly

offered to pay Colombia’s national debt of $10bn to
improve his reputation and escape the crosshairs of justice.
(Source: Killing Pablo by Mark Bowden,
2001)

#Botero’s birds: A
destroyed sculpture sits next to a newer, perfectly-formed counterpart,
representing the two stories of Medellin

# Aracataca, the
birthplace of author Gabriel García Márquez, once held a referendum to rename
the town ‘Aracataca-Macondo’ after the fictional town of Macondo from his
famous book One Hundred Years of Solitude. Unfortunately, the referendum failed
due to low turnout.
(Source: BBC, 2006)